BC-ME--Maine News Digest, ME

The breaking news staffer for Northern New England is Clarke Canfield in Portland, Maine, who can be reached at 207-772-4157. For technical problems, please call 800-882-1408.

To reach the photo department, call 617-357-8106. AP stories, along with the photos that accompany them, can also be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. Reruns also are available from customer support at 877-836-9477.

The email address for member contributions is apmaine(at)ap.org.

GAY MARRIAGE-WEDDING SPENDING

PORTLAND, Maine — In the two weeks since Maine voters approved a law allowing same-sex marriage, Clay Hill Farm has been getting phone calls and emails from gay couples inquiring about open dates and wedding packages at the restaurant and wildlife sanctuary, a popular wedding spot in York. The law won't go into effect for more than six weeks, but already couples from in and out of state have called, said Jennifer Lewis-McShera, who heads the wedding department there. By Clarke Canfield.

MAINE FIRE-FUNERAL

BANGOR, Maine — Friends and family are gathering in Bangor for the funeral of a Maine man and his three children who died in a fire at their Orrington home. Funeral services are being held Sunday afternoon at a Bangor funeral home for 30-year-old Benjamin Johnson III and his children, 4-year-old Ryan, 8-year-old Leslie and 9-year-old Ben. They died in a pre-dawn fire last Saturday that was started by empty cardboard boxes placed too close to a wood stove.

RHODES SCHOLARS-MAINE

BRUNSWICK, Maine — A 21-year-old woman from Maine who hopes to become both an anthropologist and a physician was one of 32 American college students named Sunday as prestigious Rhodes Scholars. Margaret Hayden of Brunswick is a senior at Stanford University in California, where she majors in human biology. She begins her two-year program at Oxford University in England next October, studying medical anthropology.

ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:

— HUNTING ACCIDENT — A central Maine man is recovering after accidentally shooting himself in the foot after hunting.

— PHARMACY ROBBERY — Police are investigating a robbery of a CVS Pharmacy in Augusta.

— MOTORCYCLE FATALITY — Police are investigating a motorcycle crash in Maine that killed a New Hampshire man.

— MAINE SPORTS COMMISSION — The Maine Sports Commission has launched a new website to showcase and market the state as a premier sports destination.

— ARSON ARREST — A 34-year-old transient is being held on $250,000 bail after being charged with arson in connection with a house fire in Portland.